Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Received the credentials today of Their Excellencies Amb Ahmad Makaila, Permanent Representative of Chad to the WTO, and Amb Laitia Tamata, Permanent Representative of Fiji to the WTO. Just in time for MC14. Congratulations Excellencies!

Our March 2026 Global Trade Outlook and Statistics is out today! Please click on the link to access the report. Headline info is a stronger than expected 4.6% merchandise trade volume growth in 2025 due to frontloading and strong performance of trade in AI-related goods. We forecast a modest 1.9% growth in 2026 with a rebound to 2.6% in 2027. The recent conflict in the Middle East with the attendant rise in energy prices, if sustained, could shave 0.5% off merchandise trade growth this year - lowering it from 1.9% to 1.4%. Services trade is expected to grow at more than twice the rate of goods trade in 2026. For details please look at the report. wto.org/english/res_e/…

Congratulations to Moldova on becoming the 61st Member of the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA). @MoldovainGeneva Congratulations also to MPIA participants on the resolution of the Colombia-EU French Fries 🍟 Case - restoring full market access to Colombia. This is a win-win for both Members and for the effectiveness of MPIA.

As we move towards the final preparations for our Ministerial Meeting in Yaoundé, happy to have had a terrific meeting with the MC14 Chair, Vice-Chairs and Minister Facilitators for the different sessions. Appreciate their constructive inputs and enthusiasm. Also glad to have been able to forward to Ministers the package of documents necessary to facilitate their preparatory work for Yaoundé. Look forward to the upcoming difficult but productive interactions.

I’d like to commend the Washington International Trade Association (@WITA_DC) for its very informative series of seminars on the @wto as we move towards tackling the issues of our upcoming 14th Ministerial in Cameroon, in particular the reform of the WTO. Was pleased to join Ken Levinson, CEO of WITA, and our very own Angela Ellard, former WTO DDG, to open today’s seminar and focus on what we expect for the upcoming Ministerial.

Happy to welcome a Nigerian delegation led by @TheCharlesOdii, DG of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (@SMEDANgov) and including HE Amb Catherine Imaji Udida, Director of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs (@ncfrmi_ng) and HE Amb Dr. Adamu Mohd Abdulhamid. Appreciated the importance of their focus on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and ways and means of scaling up small businesses and supporting different sectoral value chains. Happy to note the important work being done with the International Trade Centre @ITCnews, our Sister Organization.

Today in Nigeria, UK, Ireland and several parts of the world it is Mothers Day or Mothering Sunday. Wishing all the mothers celebrating today including my own a wonderful, joyful Mothers Day. Thank you mothers for your love, hard work, endurance and wisdom!

Meeting the Iraqi Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva, HE Amb Saywan Barzani, to discuss the resumption of work on Iraq’s accession to the WTO. Very impressive, Excellency, that Iraq pursues this even in the midst of tough times in the Middle East. @IraqinGeneva

Impressive to see Arab Ministers of Trade gathered to prepare for the MC14 Ministerial in the midst of the unfortunate situation in the region. Many thanks to HE Majid Al-Qasabi, Minister of Commerce of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for chairing the meeting and General Council Chair HE Amb Saqer Al-Moqbel of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for helping to organize this meeting. Also joined the LDC Group of Ministers chaired by Hon. Mod K. Ceesay, Minister of Trade of The Gambia, and ably coordinated by Amb Prof Muhammadou Kah @mkah of The Gambia. Thank you all for the hard work.

Joining a thousand staff of @DangoteGroup and the Dangote Women’s Network for their International Women’s Day celebration with the theme “Rise to Gain”. With opening remarks by Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Nglan Niat, Group HR Chief; great moderation by Hajiya Halima Dangote, Group ED; and closing remarks by Zouera Youssoufou, MD and CEO of the @AlikoDangoteFdn, and Hajiya Fatima Dangote, Group ED Commercial Operations. Great discussion on institutionalizing approaches that can help improve gender equality and help women rise. It was lovely to see Dangote women featured below, dressed like me. Thank you so much, I had fun!

Celebrating International Women’s Day with a cross-section of @wto staff. It was so fun, all of us in some version of purple! Thanks to the men who wore purple ties and matching purple shoelaces. Many thanks to Saori, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Anoush, Nicole, Alison, the WTO Employee Network and all those who helped to make this happen.

Congratulations to Lichtenstein and Barbados on becoming the 59th and 60th Members respectively of the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA). This offers an alternative appeals/arbitration mechanism for @wto Members for second tier handling of disputes. @Matthewbarbados

Celebrating International Women‘s Day at the WTO all this week with our first celebration by the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender. Many thanks to Co-Chairs HE Amb Clara Delgado Jesus of Cabo Verde, HE Amb Patricia Benedetti of El Salvador @AP_Benedetti, and HE Amb James Baxter of Australia @AusWTO for your persistence in pushing forward the role of trade policy in empowering women.

Assessing Uzbekistan‘s accession progress on the occasion of the 12th Working Party Meeting with HE Jamshid Khodjaev, Deputy Prime Minister and HE Azizbek Urunov, Chief Negotiator of WTO Accessions, and their delegation. Congratulations to Uzbekistan for its consistent hard work and continued enthusiasm towards the process. Many thanks to Working Party Chair HE Amb Sung-yo Choi of Korea. We are making good progress.

Impressed at how seriously Members are preparing for MC14, now only two weeks away. Pleased to join the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) Group of Ambassadors and the G33 Group of Ministers to discuss the state of play.

Wishing all, but especially my wonderful women friends and followers a Happy International Womens’ Day! Despite the uncertain and oftentimes gloomy world we live in, we must find the inner strength to keep ourselves, our families, nations and the world going from whatever vantage point we have. I applaud womens’ enduring strength!

Happy to receive credentials from H.E Ambassador Harold Young, Permanent Representative of Belize to the UN Institutions and the WTO. A big congratulations to Belize for the opening of its new office.

Joining the Least Developed Countries for the 8th Edition of the South-South Dialogue, focused on growing economies and enhancing development in LDCs, including further trade integration through South-South Cooperation. Many thanks to China for its steady support of this important initiative. With LDC Coordinator H.E Prof Muhammadou Kah @mkah, General Council Chair H.E Amb Saqer Almoqbel, H.E Amb Petter Olberg - Reform Facilitator @NorwayAmbWTO, H.E Amb Li Yongjie of China, H.E Amb Ram Subedi of Nepal and WTO Deputy Director General Xiangchen Zhang.

Saying goodbye to a wonderful Ambassador - HE Amb Sofia Boza of Chile. Your hard work on several WTO files, but most particularly on IFD, is much appreciated and will not be easily forgotten. Thank you for being such a great colleague and many thanks to HE Amb Erwin Bollinger of Switzerland for taking the trouble to honor you with this farewell lunch.

Welcoming the Bank for International Settlements’ General Manager Pablo Hernández de Cos to the WTO @BIS_org. A timely discussion on multilateralism, global cooperation and the rules-based system from the point of view not only of trade but also of financial institutions and financial regulation. Also touched on issues of trade finance, stablecoins and cross-border flows. Looking forward to mutually beneficial cooperation between the @BIS_org and the @wto Secretariat.